This invention relates to disposable garments such as disposable diapers of open-type or pants-type, training pants or diaper covers.
Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 1987-231005 describes disposable pants comprising a liquid-pervious topsheet, a liquid-impervious backsheet and a liquid-absorbent core extending between these two sheets. Elastic members secured under tension to the sheets of the pants along respective cutouts intended to form a pair of leg-holes, respectively. The elastic members comprise first elastic members lying substantially intermediate portions of the cutouts so as to extend longitudinally of the pants and second and third elastic members extending transversely of the pants from longitudinally opposite ends of the respective first elastic members in continuity with the first elastic members.
During use of the pants movement of the leg-holes over the front thighs is at a maximum, whereas movement over the rear thighs is moderate, and movement in the crotch region is at a minimum. While the Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 1987-231005 contains no description about stress of the first-third elastic members, it is concerned that compression marks might be left on the front thighs if the stretch stress is uniform in all the elastic members and this stretch stress is relatively high. Although it will be possible to alleviate the problem of such compression marks by reducing the stretch stress of the elastic members, a rigidity of the core will unacceptably reduce the stretch stress particularly around a crotch region of the pants in which most of excretion is discharged. In this case, the peripheral edges of the leg-holes are apt to be spaced from the wearer""s skin and an amount of excretion may leak through this gap formed between the peripheral edges and the wearer""s skin.
It is an object of this invention to provide a disposable garment with improved leg-holes elastic members so that compression marks due to the elastic members may be substantially avoided and a possibility of excretion leakage may be prevented.
According to this invention, there is provided a disposable garment having transversely opposite side edges extending in a longitudinal direction and longitudinally opposite ends extending in a transverse direction which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and leg-hole elastic members which extend in the longitudinal direction being secured under tension to the garment along the transversely opposite side edges.
In the disposable garment according to this invention, the respective sets of the elastic members associated with the leg-holes comprise the first elastic members extending along the transversely opposite side edges of the panel in the longitudinally middle zone of the panel, the second elastic members extending in continuity with the first elastic members toward the front end of the panel and the third elastic members extending in continuity with the first elastic members toward the rear end of the panel. These elastic members previously selected to present their values of stretch stress in the relationship of the first elastic members greater than the third elastic members greater than the second elastic members are attached to the panel under tension along the transversely opposite side edges. Such unique arrangement is effective to alleviate a possibility of compression marks left on the wearer""s thighs due to the elastic members and simultaneously improve a fit of the panel""s side edges around the wearer""s thighs so that a concern of excretion leakage may be reliably avoided.
With the diaper of pants-type according to this invention, the elastic members attached to the diaper along the peripheral edges of the leg-holes have the stretch stress which is higher in the crotch region than around the front thighs. As a result, a possibility of compression marks left on the wearer""s front thighs can be effectively alleviated and, at the same time, leaking of excretion otherwise possibly occurring in the wearer""s crotch region can be reliably avoided.